The Ferrymen of Fitzroy
by Bailey Belle
Summary: All the Jones brothers want is a quiet life, ferrying tourists between Cairns, Australia, and the tropical island of Fitzroy. The arrival of tourist Emma Swan interrupts Killian Jones' peaceful existence, challenges the long-standing rivalry between two marine tycoons (Robin Hood and Regina Mills) and causes Liam Jones to examine his feelings towards his married friend, Belle Gold.


She was skipping down the dock. Killian Jones had seen many a tourist's child run in excitement at the thought of a day on a tropical island, but never had a grown ass adult shown such happiness.

 _And grown she is_ , Killian thought as she approached. The skipping was making her top, clad in a polka-dotted bikini, bounce in a most distracting way. The skipping also made her flowered wrap flutter, revealing long, curvy legs, and a hint of the bottom of the bikini. _Damn._

She noticed his gaze and abruptly stopped skipping. She pushed her sunkissed blonde hair back behind her ears, and looked towards the shore, obviously embarrassed. Killian pretended not to notice and stared at his clipboard to make her feel more at ease. He was so engrossed with the passenger list that he started when she cleared her throat, not two feet in front of him.

 _Green. As green as a calm Australian sea._ Killian gave himself a mental shake, realizing he had been staring into the stranger's eyes for too long.

"Hi," she said uncertainly. "Is this the ferry to Fitzroy Island?"

"Name," was all Killian could choke out.

"Excuse me?" she asked, brow furrowing.

Killian cleared his throat, fearful his voice would break like an eager school boy. "What's your name? I have the passenger manifest here." He waved his clipboard a little too close to her face, and she leaned back, looking concerned. "I need to confirm you've paid before you board this fine vessel."

"Oh, sure. My name's Emma... Swan."

There was something odd about the way she paused before giving her last name, but Killian was never one to question the oddity of tourists. "Looks like you're ship-shape, luv. The paperwork says you've purchased an unlimited ride schedule for a month."

"That's right. Looks like I'll be seeing more of you, Captain... ?"

Killian turned on the charm and gave her his most sexy bad-boy half smile. "Jones. Killian Jones, at your service." He was rewarded with a slow blink, and then a genuine sunny smile broke across her face.

"Emma Swan," she said, sticking her hand out.

Confused, Killian took it, and was surprised by the firm business-like grip. "You, uh, already introduced yourself."

Emma immediately let go of his hand, and Killian kicked himself for pointing that out. "Oh, uh, yeah, sorry." She laughed nervously. "I'll just get settled in."

"Do you need any assistance with your bags?" Killian called out hopefully, as she scurried up the ramp to the second level of the ferry.

"No, no, I'm fine," she said, not looking at him. Killian sighed, but noted she chose a seat closest to the dock.

"Ahem," a voice interrupted his thoughts.

Killian started and noticed the line of passengers that had piled up behind Miss Swan. "Uh, right. Name, please."

The next half an hour was a blur of clipboard checks, shuffling tourists' suitcases and campers' packs into the luggage cage on deck, and telling off small children who were running up and down the stairs. He tried to sneak glances at the mysterious Emma Swan when she wasn't looking. Killian knew Robin, the ferry boat owner, would have his hide if he caught him leering at the tourists. "It's bad for business. People won't come back if you're staring at them. They'll head off to Green Island, and do we want them to throw more money at Regina's marine empire?" Luckily, Robin left Killian and Liam to run the boat together, and he couldn't catch Killian staring at Miss Swan.

But Emma could. She turned her head from the shore at exactly the wrong moment, and their eyes locked. Killian almost dropped the bag he was holding, and by the time he had it settled, a second glance at Emma revealed her dropping her fingers on the tail of a laugh. Killian ducked his head in embarrassment, but looked again under his eyelashes at her. Emma was still looking at him, and when she noticed his gaze, she rewarded him with a flirty smile.

Killian was extra charming during the safety briefing. He grinned at Emma through the head hole in the life vest, and felt a jolt in his chest at her answering giggle. Tying the knot on the vest was a challenge under her gaze, and he ended up with a tight square knot rather than his usual bow. No matter, he would fix it later. The part of the recording came on that described the procedure in case someone fell overboard. Killian pantomimed shouting "Man Overboard", then taking out a cell phone to snap pictures of a drowning person while pointing and laughing. He was rewarded with another small lift of Emma's lips, and he walked back into the cabin with a big grin on his face.

Liam spared him a mock-stern glance from behind the wheel. "You know better than that, little brother."

"Younger brother." Killian's high mood was immediately dampened at the reminder of how many more years experience Liam had as a licensed captain. Killian was a Master for Inland waters, but he needed several more months of experience on a sea faring vessel to be licensed to pilot the ferry off the shore to Fitzroy Island. Until then, he would be stuck as cabin boy with Liam at the helm. All it took was two words to remind Killian of his place. Killian attempted to shrug the feeling off. "What are you talking about, _old man_?"

Liam grinned at his cheeky brother. "You know perfectly well Robin will have your hide if he finds out you're flirting with customers."

Killian looked sideways at Liam. "Robin needn't know."

Liam let the silence stretch until Killian was sheepishly scratching behind his ear, and then clapped his hand on Killian's shoulder. "Rest assured, brother, I'll keep your secret. But try not to get your heart broken by some siren tourist," he finished with a laugh.

"Never!" Killian protested, and turned to make his way down to open the ferry's bar. He managed to not spill the mango juice Emma ordered fifteen minutes later. She paused at the bar, fingers lingering over his on the glass. Killian searched for a topic of conversation and felt his mind blank. Emma smiled nervously at him, raised her glass, and turned to sashay back up the stairs.

 _A month_ , Killian thought as he watched those long legs climb the steps. _It's going to be an interesting month._


End file.
